GOYG Featured Trail

Knickerbocker Trail

This hike is located in the Auburn State Recreation Area (ASRA) on the west side behind the commercial center of Cool. Access to this area was hard fought. As the Auburn Dam project floundered many people petitioned the state to allow public access.

When the area was finally opened to the public, in the early 1990’s, users were only allowed on established trails and threatened with citations for going off trail. Since then, the rules have become relaxed with the entire area open for exploration.

Widely used by equestrians and mt. bikes, this trail makes a giant loop around the entire area where homesteads once thrived. You may wonder as you wander this vast area of abandoned orchards and farms, why the Bureau of Reclamation needed to acquire so much beautiful territory beyond the shores of the proposed Auburn Lake. It makes a great park and wildlife refuge, especially as the surrounding area gets gobbled up with homes.

Dozens of New Hikes and Maps Added to Get Off Your Gass

Now that the popular hiking books Auburn Outback and Placerville Paths by Tom Petersen have been added to this site, Get Off Your Gass has grown to more than 300 pages of hiking trails and detailed, hand-drawn maps. With so many different places to explore, on and off the Georgetown Divide, what are you waiting for? Get Off Your Gass!

Wilderness Survival Guide:
How To Stay Alive If Lost, Hurt or Stranded

Imagine a fun afternoon hike around Mt. Baker. You’re enjoying the quiet of the forest, the dappled light shining through the trees, and the intoxicating smell of the leaves when thick fog rolls in unexpectedly at 4:00 p.m. In a panic, you follow the wrong trail for hours along a progressively steeper face until you’ve run out of daylight.

Imagine being on a snowmobile in the back-country with friends, zipping through the powder and chasing each other between the tree trunks when a blizzard sets in and the last snowmobile doesn’t show up at the rendezvous point.

Or imagine the mountain biking trip you’ve been daydreaming about for months, bombing down the mountain with the wind in your face. You get separated from your group on a tricky portion of single-track, and decide to press on when you come to an unknown fork in the trail. Feeling exhausted and dehydrated, you take a corner too fast and crash, tacoing your front wheel and breaking your collar bone.

Lost, hurt, stranded – these scenarios and others like them play out over three thousand times per year in the United States. Folks heading outdoors in search of adventure don’t plan on getting lost or hurt in the wilderness. It can happen to the best of us, and when it does, people underestimate the challenges of the wilderness and overestimate their own ability.

To help you avoid becoming a statistic by rightly explaining the dangers of the wilderness and ensuring that you are physically and mentally prepared for any snags during your adventures, we’ve put together this wilderness survival guide.

WARNING TO HIKERS: Hiking can be addictive, beware the danger signs of enjoying too much freedom and relaxation—you may start buying all weather clothes and equipment for extending hiking time into the off season. If you find yourself using tools to maintain your favorite trails—you’re beyond hope. Happy Hiking!